Latin America’s history of pervasive economic and physical trade barriers has proven a significant impediment to the integration of multinationals’ regional supply chains. Tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, complicated and inconsistent tax rules, and the nearly-impenetrable Amazon Basin and Andes…
Tomorrow’s Latin America Won’t be Won with Yesterday’s Playbook
Frontier Strategy Group is witnessing a dizzying array of changes to the business landscape in Latin America. Some are highly visible shifts in the external political and economic conditions in key markets such as Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela, to name…
The Bloom is Off the Rousseff
Today marks the seventh day of demonstrations in São Paulo; demonstrations that started as small protests expressing frustration with bus fare increases in the city but have now spread to major cities throughout the country. The protests have captured the…
US-Colombia FTA Stumbles Out of the Gate, But Trade is a Marathon, not a Sprint: Highlights from FSG’s Bogota Interview with Expert Advisor Juan David Barbosa
Despite general optimism at the opportunities provided by the new US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, FSG clients have reported unwelcome delays and roadblocks in efforts to take advantage of the agreement, as noted in our recent Quarterly Market Review of Colombia.…
Hugo Chavez’s Death: Considerations for Multinationals
According to Venezuela’s vice president, Nicolas Maduro, Hugo Chavez died at 4:25 PM, local time, on Tuesday from complications related to cancer. FSG has been predicting for some time that it was unlikely that Hugo Chavez would be able return…
Argentina Consumer Crisis Redux: Lessons from History to Inform Investment Today
While Argentina may be doomed to ignore the lessons of history and again plunge into recession or even economic free fall, investors are not obliged to follow blindly. For investors focused on the consumer products segment, previous crises offer ample…
Rising Trends for Q3 in Mexico
Mexico stepped into the spotlight in Q3 of 2012 as multinational executives began to shift their operations and increase their investments into Mexico. Reignited interest into Mexico has been largely driven by higher labor costs in China and expectations that…